Ledger Archives: Donohue tops 14-year-old record

The crowd exploded with applause when Erin Donohue ran past the halfway point and their cheers grew increasingly louder with each of Donohue's next eight laps.

By the time the Haddonfield senior charged down the final straightaway toward the finish, 5,000 fans were on their feet.

Their standing ovation culminated in a deafening roar when Donohue crossed in a meet-record 10:38.90 to win the girls 3,200-meter run at the NJSIAA indoor track and field Meet of Champions yesterday at Jadwin Gym in Princeton.

Donohue broke the record of 10:39.6 set in 1986 by U.S. Olympian Anne Letko of North Hunterdon. Her time is the fastest in the nation this season and the ninth-fastest in state indoor history.

Donohue, who is running indoors for the first time after playing basketball the past three winter seasons, has won seven M of C titles, including four in outdoor track and two in cross-country.

"The crowd really was a big factor," Donohue said. "Over the last few laps, when you know you are going to win, it's sometimes difficult to keep your focus and maintain your pace. But when they are all clapping like that and pulling for you, it gives you that little extra to keep pushing. They came here expecting to see me doing something, so I try to give them what they want."

Donohue decided before the meet to skip the 1,600 so she could run for time in the 3,200.
"I'd rather have a real fast time and a meet record than win two events," Donohue said.
Donohue had nothing to prove in the 1,600. On Friday night, she finished second in the mile in 4:57.12 at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. It is the sixth-fastest time in state history and the second-fastest in the country this season.

"I wanted to do something different," Donohue said.
In the 3,200, Donohue hit the 1,600 mark in 5:38, ran the final 800 in 2:39, the last 400 in 1:19 and the last 200 in 37 seconds.

"I knew I was on pace the whole way," Donohue said. "It was just a matter of keeping the same pace."
Donohue nearly lapped the entire field, passing 11 of the 13 other runners in her heat. The only ones she didn't get were defending champion Kristen Meyer of Hillsborough, who was second in 11:07.80, and Jesse Mizzone of Passaic Valley, who was third in 11:19.04.

Meyer said she knew she didn't have a chance to win.
"From the beginning, I was just running for second place," Meyer said. "No one was going to come close to (Donohue). We all knew it."

In other events: 55-meter dash When Takara Wilks of Queen of Peace crouched into the starting blocks, pain shot down her leg.

"I have two slipped disks in my back and the pain is unbelievable," Wilks, a junior, said. "When I got down in the blocks, I just closed my eyes and prayed that my back would hold up. I was worried and in a lot of pain."

Wilks' back held up just long enough for her to win the 55 in 7.25, making her the first runner in state history to win indoor Meet of Champions titles for two different schools. Wilks won the dash last year while attending Lincoln in Jersey City.

"Coming into the meet, I was most worried about my back holding up for the start," Wilks, who won the Colgate Games dash in 7.09 on Saturday, said. "During the trials I got a little tingling in my legs. I told my coach that I wasn't sure what I could do. He told me to get my head into the game and I'd be alright."

Wilks said the M of C was her last race of the indoor season and that she likely will undergo laser surgery to repair her injured back.

"I'm not going to run Easterns or Nationals, so this was my last indoor race," she said. "To win in your last race is all you can ask for." 400-meter run Tawana Watkins was seeded second in the 400 behind Danielle Myricks of Willingboro, but the Paterson Kennedy junior sensed that her competitors expected her to lead the pack.

"They know who I am," said Watkins, who has recorded the 11th-fastest time in the nation this season. "They were looking at me before the race. They probably don't know I get nervous, too."

Watkins has learned to handle the pressure of big races, and she proved that when she ran 57.60 to place first in the 400 yesterday.

Watkins took the lead after the first 200-meter lap and held off a charging Myricks, who surged from fourth to second place on the final backstretch but couldn't overtake Watkins on the final straightaway. Myricks took second in 58.47.

It was the fifth M of C title for Watkins, who successfully defended the M of C title she won last indoor season. She also has won two outdoor M of C titles in the 400-meter hurdles and one in the 400-meter run. Last spring, Watkins became the first girl to win both the 400 run and the 400 hurdles at the same meet.